I. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to methods and systems for providing validity logic. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing validity logic for data, such as customizing entities.
II. Background Information
In data processing environments, the ability to determine the validity of data is essential. For example, in business software systems and applications, certain data values may become obsolete or need to be retired. This can occur for data representing revised financial statements, discontinued products, sold companies or merged business units, and the like. In such cases, the ability to determine the validity and appropriate processing for these values is necessary to guarantee accurate results.
Validity logic may be provided to allow a user to determine if certain data is valid or not. Such logic may be implemented using various approaches, such as a flag in a database table. The flag can be used to make a corresponding data value “usable” or “not usable.” For instance, a field in a database table for a corresponding data value may be flagged as “XDELE”. If the “XDELE” flag is set, then the corresponding data value is determined to be invalid.
Conventional approaches to validity logic, such as those noted above, have several drawbacks. For example, the use of a flag does not always provide sufficient information concerning the validity of data. In some cases, it may be necessary to have more information than just whether data the usable, such as when or why the data is valid. For instance, certain may be valid for one time period or interval, while invalid for others. Furthermore, past approaches do not provide sufficient flexibility to the user. For example, with the conventional flag strategy, it is not possible to set conditions to control the validity of data, such as by user interaction, by customizing settings, or by programming logic with default value behavior.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved methods and systems for providing validity logic. In addition, there is a need for providing validity logic for different types of data, such as customizing entities.